DUFF MCKAGAN: People Think I'm Rolling In Cash

QMI Agency: The new LOADED album seems a lot more aggressive than the last one.

McKagan: Yeah, this was the first record we ever made coming off a tour. We went on tour with our last album, "Sick", and when you play a record live, it gets heavier and heavier because you got four guys on adrenaline and caffeine. And then when you start writing riffs, that's where this record came from. We came off the road and started making demos. Then Terry Date heard a couple of songs and said, "I really want to do this record." And this is how money always plays a part: He usually gets $200,000 to produce a record. But we don't have that kind of money.

QMI Agency: Sure you do. You're loaded. It's even the name of your band. I mean, I presume it originally referred to your drinking. But nowadays, it kind of has a new meaning.

McKagan: Oh God. (Laughs) Yeah, I guess. But if you were to live my life, you'd see I have to work. I have a wife and two kids. Yeah, I've been very fortunate. But rich? People make huge assumptions about the guys in GN'R. They think I'm fucking rolling in it. But trust me, you don't have any idea what I make. So anyway, back to LOADED. Terry knew we were making the record on our own dime. And he offered to be sort of a partner, so he did it for free in the hopes that the record will do well. So it's in his interest to use whatever machine he's got to sell it too.

QMI Agency: Every interview, you're asked about reuniting with GN'R and getting a new singer for VELVET REVOLVER. You must get sick of it.

McKagan: It's just part of life. I've learned to understand it. I had to. I could fucking fight it but there's no use because there's so many people on the planet. I did this signing at a guitar show in England a few weeks ago. There were 1,000 people each day. And the first day, I got asked those questions 1,000 times. Every single fucking person asked. So the second day, they put up a sign that said, "No, GUNS N' ROSES are not getting back together, and VELVET REVOLVER is not doing anything right now." It was hilarious.

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